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Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. (Acts 4:29) When I was younger, I could eat as much of anything I wanted, and get away with it. As I've gotten older, I learned to be more careful about what goes from my plate to my mouth. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for my work/life balance. I've always been hun...
Keep ReadingWhen they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them" (Acts 4:24). Often, when I read the news, I think, "The world is such a mess." How about you? Each day we are confronted with any number of disturbing news stories. There are stories of wars, oppre...
Keep ReadingOn their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported allthat the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this,they raised their voices together in prayer to God (Acts 4:23-24a). When confronting a challenge or crisis, we often experience a "hunger" of some kind. Maybe we find ourselves hungering for safety, quick and easy solu...
Keep Reading"Now, Lord, enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness."Acts 4:29 As we dive into our new series, Hungry for God, one aspect we should consider as Jesus followers is this: are we hungry to see others come to Him? Please indulge my overuse of bold font throughout this devotional, but I am struck by the Book of Acts' emphasis on just plain talking to non-be...
Keep Reading[Editor's note: the passage for this week is Acts 4:23-34, and Deb, Heidi, Elizabeth andDave will be offering their usual insightful and helpful meditations on it throughout this week. Today's Connect Devotional hopes to serve as an entry door into this new series.] It's a familiar experience: there I stand, looking into fridge or pantry, hungry for something. Or I'm ru...
Keep Reading"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."(Matthew 28: 19-20) I'm in sales, and a couple of weeks ago I was working with a retail partner to set up a new display in their store. While building the display one of my co-workers wa...
Keep ReadingThen Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20) When I was in...
Keep ReadingGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations[help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words],baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19 Amplified Bible) When you think about the person (or people) who showed you what it looked like to follow Jesus, who comes to mind? What behaviors or practices we...
Keep ReadingWhen they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubtedAnd surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:17, 20 In October 2020 the following email exchange (edited for brevity) took place between our Connect Devotional editor, Brian, and myself about writing for the team: Brian: C'mon, give it a go. What's the worst that could happen...? Jessica: ...
Keep ReadingThen the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and te...
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